STOUGHTON - As a crowd gathered on Nov. 11 outside the Stoughton branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, near the cenotaph, a gentle breeze fluttered the Canadian flag which was flown at half mast.
As the bugle sounded, the crowd fell quiet for two minutes of silence, and the flag returned to its place high on the pole.
After the laying of the wreaths, everyone entered the warmth of the legion, where Father Chris Juchacz conducted a short service.
Pat Slater, the fire chief for Stoughton Tecumseh and a veteran, read off the names of over 230 men and women who are no longer with us. They went to war, and those who came home tended to have three times higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, said Juchacz. They went to war for strangers, as this is what military people do.
He asked, who would lay their lives down for a stranger? Juchacz said that not only did military people do this, but Jesus Christ has done this for us as well.
He wanted to remind us that we have freedom and peace due to the work of the thousands of peacekeepers around the world.
Although they are peace keepers, many of them have lost their lives and today 240,000 military people have a disabilities of some kind.
The hymns When Peace like a River and How Great Thou Art were sung and led by Alvina Goudy on the organ and Debbie Mclenaghan.
The responsive prayer was led by Brad Phillips of the Catholic Church, while Ann Philips of the United Church did the scripture reading.
A luncheon was held after the service for everyone to join in, tell stories and socialize.
